Louis Bosa

American, 1905–1981

Born in Codroipo, a small village only a few miles from Venice, Italy in 1905, the son of a stonemason. Bosa emigrated to the U.S. at age 18 after studies at the Accademia della Belle Arti in Venice and became an American citizen. He then studied under John Sloan, of the Ashcan School, at the Art Students League in New York. A distinguished painter, Louis Bosa's work has been likened to that of artists ranging from Pieter Breughel the Elder to John Sloan and the Ashcan School.

Being an acute observer of the human condition, Bosa's paintings, which are primarily oil on canvas, often focus on people and street scenes from his native Italy. Bosa was known to have followed his subjects around, making many sketches and mental notes, and combined his observations in the final work to create visionary, fantastical images. The subjects of his paintings are highly stylized and expressionistic, and border on caricature. "People are so funny at times they are sad," he said: The people in his paintings are accessible and seem to portray human emotion and everyday life, conquering such concepts as mortality, humility and sometimes futility. His work often reveals comedy in the midst of tragedy. Many of his paintings include whimsical images of nuns riding bicycles and similar authority figures engaged in mundane activities.

He traveled extensively through Europe and often returned to his native Italy. Bosa painted for the Works Progress Administration and the Whitney Museum. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Art, the New York Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, Syracuse University, and the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana. His paintings and watercolors are on display at many well-known art studios and museums across the United States such as:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York
The Whitney Museum - New York
The Philadelphia Museum - Pennsylvania
The Worcester Museum - Massachusetts
The Springfield Museum - Massachusetts
The Toronto Art Museum - Canada
Notre Dame University Museum
The Butler Museum - Ohio
The Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts - Ohio
The University of Illinois - Illinois
The Montclair Museum - New Jersey
The James A. Michener Art Museum - Doylestown, Pennsylvania
The Clearwater Museum - Florida
The Wilmington Museum - Delaware
The Athenian Museum - Connecticut
The Herron Art Institute - Indiana
The Rochester Museum - New York
The Delgado Museum - New Orleans
The Richmond Art Museum - Virginia
The Academy of Arts and Letters
The Hosanna Fund
The Encyclopedia Britannica Collections
International Business Machines
The Syracuse Museum - New York